Star Crossed
by doxeybrunstone
Summary: She met Charlie when they were both young, both betrayed by their families. As they grew together, they also grew to love each other very much... They were, after all, not so different.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Pretty Little Liars: the characters, the place, or anything relating to it.**

Chapter One - a new plAymate

Radley was a nice enough place, she thought to herself as she slowly scanned the room. Her mother and father couldn't ignore her existence anymore. Radley was expensive after all. Surely they would check up on her.

But they didn't. Not often anyway. She was the bad twin after all. Evil, murderous Courtney. They'd have locked her up in the attic if they could get away with it, but she had a knack for screaming... and inflicting pain.

As she took in all of the new and old patients – some so old she wondered why they weren't in a nursing home instead – a boy with wild hair caught her eye. He looked to be about her age. To anyone else the boy would seem like any other, but Courtney could see in his eyes something familiar.

It didn't take much courage for Courtney to strut up to him, but she was much more cautious around him than she would have been with any other patient there. "Hey, you're new here, right?" The boy shrugged and flipped through the book in his lap.

Courtney waited for a moment for him to respond, but when he showed no sign to, she opened her mouth again, "I'm Courtney." She sat down next to him and rested her chin in her hand.

"Charlie." The boy sighed. She giggled, causing him to look up and stare in confusion.

"It's just... You're Charlie, I'm Courtney. Two Cs." He nodded and turned back to his book, which he was clearly not interested in. Courtney leaned forward to whisper in his ear. "So, what're you in for?"

Courtney frequently joked with new patients that being in a mental institution was similar to that of jail. She didn't entirely believe it, of course. Aside from the metal bars and "No sharp objects" rule, Radley wasn't too bad a place to live.

Charlie shrugged looking down at his hands with guilt. "I don't know." He mumbled. Courtney furrowed her eyebrows at him, noting his discomfort. Courtney, ever the quick one to change a subject - something she had mastered to evade questioning from her parents - asked if he wanted to know a secret. Charlie's ears perked up. He looked around them to make sure no one was listening before looking back at her. "What?"

"I'm a twin." His curiosity deflated. Courtney quickly add, "Well, I used to be. She's dead now." Charles sat up straight, his curiosity back and peaked more than ever. Courtney sneered, opening her mouth to divulge in the gruesome details of her sister's death, but they were interrupted before she could even start.

"Now, didn't I tell you, Courtney?" She turned to see one of the nurses smiling down at them. "You're not alone after all!" Courtney smiled sweetly back at her and nudged Charlie with her elbow.

"Ow- Hi." He said, but his voice was as dark as he was. The nurse's lips quivered nervously before she backed away to her desk. She shuffled through her papers, eyeing him frequently. Charlie had this effect on many people. It was one of the reasons he had been sent away by his so-called family.

"We'll work on that." Courtney reassured him.

"How long have you been here?" He asked with a sour taste in his mouth. Courtney looked up, tapping each finger on her knee.

"Hmm, about 8 months."

"Don't you miss your family?" Courtney's smile waned. Her family. They were the ones who sent her away. They were the ones who had only visited once. They were the ones... No, she would not miss them. She would never miss them. She just shook her head in reply.

"I get to draw and play piano. They only have old movies, but there's an old record player that they let us listen to once in awhile. As long as you play the game, you can do anything you want."

"Game?" Charlie looked confused. Courtney described the life at Radley as that of a board game. She rolled the dice every morning. If she landed on a low number, it was going to be a very bad day. But if she landed on a high number, everyone would get along. "That doesn't make any sense."

"Sure it does." She took out a pair of dice and shook it in her hand, turning her back to the nurse. She dropped the dice on the plastic chair and coughed to cover up the noise. They weren't supposed to take things from the game room, after all. "Pair of fours. Watch this."

Courtney got out of her seat and stood in front of the red line separating the patients' area from the nurses' area. "Ms. Marion?" She asked in her sweetest voice. The nurse looked up and smiled at her.

"Yes, Miss Courtney?"

"Can I-" Marion rose an eyebrow. "I mean, _may_ I have some paper and some pencils?" Marion seemed to consider it for a moment. "I want to show Charlie how to draw a puppy. I love puppies." Courtney clasped her hands together. Marion looked over at Charlie uneasily before getting up from her desk. She walked over to a locked cabinet behind the desk and grabbed two crayons, one yellow and one red, and a small stack of paper.

"Here you go, Courtney." But Courtney didn't reach out to grab the paper and crayons. She looked down at the red line and back up at the nurse sheepishly. "Oh, yes." Marion took the few steps between her desk and Courtney, handing her the things. The girl hugged her, thanking the woman very much.

When Courtney sat down and placed the papers and crayons at the table, Charlie saw something poking out of her sleeve. "What's-" Courtney shushed him, her eyes growing large. She nodded towards Marion, who was still watching them.

In small letters, Courtney spelled out the word "escape" before coloring it in red and drawing a vicious-looking puppy. Charlie took the yellow crayon and drew a bird. "Can I borrow that?" Courtney handed the red crayon to him. For someone so young, he really knew how to draw, especially with a crayon that had to be as old as Radley. He drew a fire below the bird.

"You're really good at drawing." She stated. He smirked and shrugged.

"It's my favorite animal." He replied. Courtney giggled. Charlie turned to her with a frown. "What?"

"It's not a chicken being cooked?" She pointed at the fire. Charlie scoffed.

"Don't be stupid. It's a phoenix."

Courtney arched her eyebrow at him. "Phoenixes aren't real." Charlie's nostrils flared and he started filling all of the yellow parts with the red crayon.

"Says you." He muttered. She watched him fill the entire page with red, leaving only trace amounts of yellow still visible. "I don't even belong here." He said after a long moment of silence.

"Belong?" Courtney tilted her head to the side. As advanced as she was, there were some words she didn't understand. Like how her parents said she didn't _belong_ with them anymore, right before she was shipped off to Radley.

"I'm not crazy." Charlie looked at the other patients. "Like them." One man had his fingers taped and his hands shackled behind his back, because he had bitten his nails so much, he had started biting the flesh. There was a woman who was rocking back and forth, whispering about the doll's eyes "they're staring at me, they're trying to steal my soul."

Courtney clapped him on the shoulder, startling him. "Don't worry. You're just as deranged as I am."

A/N: I think we all know who A is at this point, but I'm doing this for fun anyway!


End file.
